Tropica Noir

Featured story

Where cultures blend, subgenres emerge

Since the early 2000s, artists in Latin America and the Caribbean have combined the rhythms and instruments from their culture with the pop, hip hop, and trap music imported from the U.S. These subgenres continue to blend and evolve around the world as artists experiment with ancient instruments and modern processing thanks to samples such as the ones in this pack.

Originating in Puerto Rico, Latin trap music is a direct descendant of southern hip hop with influences from reggaeton. After already skyrocketing reggaeton music onto the top of international music charts, artists like Bad Bunny began incorporating trap elements into their productions. This isn’t how Latin trap got its start but it’s certainly how it exploded.

Reggaeton isn’t the only genre to further blend styles. In 2009, acts like Major Lazer incorporated other Latin and Caribbean genres like reggae, dancehall, and soca, into their electronic dance music. Artists like Crooked Stilo, Chicos de Barrio, and the Kumbia Kings combined cumbia and rap to form cumbia rap. These are just a few examples of how today’s pop music came to include the bright Latin rhythms and vocals the world loves.

What style will you invent using these sounds?

Instrumentalists who performed on this pack include:

Charles Dorman (producer)
Kimball Barker (guitar)
Alex Montalvo (guitar)
Alex Williams (guitar)
Matt Wharton (trumpet)
James Stanley (vocals)

Companion Packs

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